News

Growing impact of ACU research

Seven academics from Australian Catholic University have been listed in Clarivate’s 2022 Highly Cited Researchers, underscoring the university’s commitment to excellence in priority areas.

The ACU academics announced on Tuesday 15 November 2022 in the list of esteemed researchers are:

• Professor Ester Cerin and Professor John Kanis (Cross Field)
• Professor Herb Marsh, Professor Richard Ryan and Professor David Penn (Psychiatry and Psychology)
• Professor Jim Sallis (Social Sciences)
• Professor Mark Nieuwenhuijsen (Environment and Ecology, and Social Sciences).

ACU’s researchers feature among 337 academics from Australia which ranks fifth for most highly cited researchers in the world after the US, China, UK and Germany. More than 7,000 researcher awards from 69 countries and regions have been recognised this year: 3,981 in specific fields and 3,244 for cross-field impact.

Head of Research Analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, David Pendlebury said: “Research fuels the race for knowledge and it is important that nations and institutions celebrate the individuals who drive the wheel of innovation. The Highly Cited Researchers list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers who are having a significant impact on the research community as evidenced by the rate at which their work is being cited by their peers. These individuals are helping to transform human ingenuity into our world’s greatest breakthroughs – and it is an honour to celebrate their achievements.”

This latest result follows acknowledgement last week of ACU as lead institution for education psychology and counselling, and Dr Jessica Holloway as a Field leader in Educational Administration, in The Australian newspaper’s 2023 Research Awards.

Internationally, the university is among the top 250 universities, and in the top six Catholic universities for arts and humanities¹, top 150 for psychology, top 50 for education and 14th for nursing², moving up four places with improved scores across all citation metrics.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise Professor Abid Khan said the university’s focus on expanding its research performance and building international relationships were beginning to pay dividends. “These achievements highlight the important strategic direction that ACU has taken to build our reputation as a leading Catholic university globally.”

ACU has become increasingly internationally connected through more than 200 partners worldwide, including a close relationship with eight fellow universities that form the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities, said ACU Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Zlatko Skrbis who is also President of SACRU.

“Through treaties such as the recent agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to address the world’s food and health inequalities, the alliance and ACU are working on real solutions to address some of the greatest challenges of our time,” Professor Skrbis said.

^{1 Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2023
2 Shanghai Ranking, Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2022}